Tyrone Price challenges Welsh government on racism
Julie Morgan, Assembly Member for Cardiff North, spoke out about the experience of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities at a special Welsh government debate about hate crime - and ended with a question from 16 year old Tyrone Price from Pembrokeshire.
Tyrone, who is a member of the charity Travelling Ahead’s Youth Advisory Group, believes that young Gypsies and Travellers should speak out about racism “with courage”.
He had this to say to the Welsh Assembly:
“Have we actually improved tackling racism, or are people just pretending to accept this concept of equality?” He said.
“He put forward a question that I think is very thought provoking, and I think it’s a very valid question,” Julie Morgan told the Welsh government.
Julie Morgan used Tyrone’s question to speak out about the experience of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in Wales at the National Assembly for Wales debate to discuss progress in Wales’ Tackling Hate Crime Action Plan.
Today, I wanted to particularly concentrate on the treatment of members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community, who are very frequently the target of hate crimes and discrimination here in Wales,” said Julie Morgan.
“This targeting of this community is nothing new; it has gone on for many, many years.”
Julie Morgan then told the Welsh Assembly that police forces specifically monitor hate crimes against Welsh Gypsies and Travellers to help combat the belief by young Gypsies and Travellers that the police “don’t listen to them” when they do make a complaint about racism and hate crime.
“I’d like to just finally, really, end with the thoughts of one of the young people from the Travelling Ahead group, Tyrone Price,” she added.
“I think this is obviously what a young person feels very strongly, that a lot of the progress we have made towards equality, some of it is perhaps token, and we have to really make race equality an absolute reality, particularly for the young people who are suffering from prejudice and hate crime,” she said.
Gypsy and Traveller campaigners in England welcomed the intervention of Julie Morgan.
“It’s great to see politicians in Wales debating racism against Welsh Gypsies and Travellers,” they said.
“Politicians in England should take note.”
(Picture: Tyrone Price supports OperationReportHate © Travelling Ahead)
Watch this video by Travelling Ahead in which young Welsh Gypsy and Travellers talk about the racism they face and what should be done about it:
Travellers' Tales - The real lives of young Gypsies and Travellers from Gritty Realism Productions on Vimeo.
http://www.travellingahead.org.uk/projects/tackling-hate-crime/